I just had to let the feelings sink in down deep before starting this.
I have to admit, I am pretty late in writing this one, but I promise you, this comeback post of mine will probably enlighten or dishearten you. And also spoilers are to be elaborated and furthermore can cause you GREAT harm if you haven’t watched this. (But pretty much of this article is for everyone, so go ahead.)
I recently watched the movie that splintered the entire Star Wars franchise into the haters and lovers last January 1, and safe to say, it wasn’t a bad thing to start a year right with a little bit of starfighter and lightsaber action swiveling here and there. So presenting my comeback article for the year 2018, is my movie review of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi!
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the eighth installment of the almighty Star Wars saga, and is directed by Rian Johnson, and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Kinberg, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Ram Bergman. The film was released last December 13.
The story revolves yet again around the Skywalkers, but this time, all their hopes are dwindled to none. With the Resistance outgunned, outnumbered and even on the run from the dreaded First Order forces, no one knows how the tide will turn for the bravest of Resistance troops. As General Leia Organa (played by the late great Carrie Fisher), Finn (played by John Boyega) & Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac) struggles to remain a foothold on the never-ending power-hungry conquest of the First Order led by Supreme Leader Snoke (played by the CGI-riffic Andy Serkis) and General Armitage Hux (played by Domhnall Gleeson), the young scavenger Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) sets out to the distant corner of the galaxy with Chewbacca to find the lost Jedi hero, Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) as to ignite the fire of the Resistance in their fight against tyranny. But the only one stopping her is Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver), the son of Leia, whose intention is to kill the last of the Jedi. But only time can tell, if he ever succeeds in doing so…
So let’s begin with the good stuff first. In technicality, visual effects are already considered cutting-edge in this movie. Yes, I loved the CGI, effects and all the pizazz embedded in this movie.
Story-wise, it’s very uniform. It’s unique in a sense that nearly outwits some episodes of the prequel saga (this was better than AOTC in a sense), and quite enjoyable that it becomes one of my go-to movies for popcorn-munching.
The movie also adds liberty in adding new faces to the mix, like Vice Admiral Aimilyn Holdo (played by Laura Dern), pipe technician Rose Tico (played by Kelly Marie Tran) and the enigmatic hacker DJ (played by Benicio Del Toro). All characters are somewhat okay, but I have a more elaborate opinion on them after you read this segment.
The acting, I can say, is quite up to par to that of Revenge of the Sith‘s, but with more serious scenes than that of ROTS. You’ll consider Luke as a rough gem in this movie, as he was condescending as heck. I never expected his character to take quite a very depressing turn as to the events prior to TLJ, because as far as we went on theorizing his role in the movie (you can throw the Snoke-is-Plagueis or Luke-turns-to-the-dark-side theories out the window now), we always considered Luke as the figurehead of hope. Rian Johnson’s done an incredible job making one of my favorite fandom heroes seem very vulnerable. It’s the sad, sad truth about it. Heroes don’t live forever, and sometimes we just have to accept that, no matter what. That’s what (Rian) Johnson was trying to reciprocate to the story. Most of the characters I enjoyed, especially Rey’s quite sullen but understanding performance, and I wouldn’t forget that Leia Organa performance by the late Carrie Fisher. She indeed, will always remain the Princess of Alderaan after watching this.
I also liked some tidbits in the movie including the Phasma-face reveal after the Finn vs. Phasma segment, and unusually, I liked the Porgs in this movie. Is there any chance we might be seeing these critters again? But most importantly, some Star Wars and non-Star Wars fans can agree that Ben Swolo was the “excellent tidbit” according to such. It was inevitably good, that every meme group about Star Wars I am supposed to be in blew up making a whole lot of those. Did I forget to say that this installment became a new meme gold mine for the meme groups on Facebook and Tumblr? Go ahead and explore if you dare.
Let’s not get carried away there. The starfighter sequences were definitely okay, and the lightsaber fights were nicely executed. The Rey-Kylo vs Praetorian Guard scene was the creme-of-the-crop for me there. All those stunts were brilliant! Everyone in the audience actually grinned when I looked at their faces when watching that scene. Pure adrenaline to pump up a movie, eh? Of course. Let’s not forget the Canto Bight interlude, where Finn and Rose bump heads to find a “red flower hacker” to sabotage the First Order, but ends up being a flop mission until DJ came along, and that tedious Battle on Crait, where the “final fight” cliche usually ends on the high note, but with some unexpected (and much disappointing) results. I would have loved this scene if not for that (see bad side opinion afterwards). All-in-all, so good…so what now? And yes, so much nostalgic scenes…The reunions of Luke to R2-D2, Leia and finding out that Han died made me cry so much, I think this has got to be the saddest installment of the saga.
Let’s get to the bad side of the movie. Apparently, even by today’s fandom expectations, everyone who watched this movie expectantly waited for a theory about this or that to be proven without a doubt. But the filmmakers say otherwise, and this enraged fans. Now, I didn’t do any theorizing about the movie and I expected at least a little reveal about this or that (as every Star Wars fan expecting a new movie would), but to actually have some kooky theory about this or that be disapproved by the filmmakers made The Last Jedi a scorn of defeat to a half of the franchise’s gigantic fan base.
Even I couldn’t mask disappointment over what I expected to be the betterment of The Force Awakens. The Last Jedi had tremendous ups-and-downs. The movie was a bit rushed in some point (I think the discovery of the Resistance based on D’Qar wasn’t expanded so), some scenes were ridiculous as heck including that Leia Organa’s flight from space scene, the Luke drinks green alien milk from a moof (I don’t know, some people refer to it as moof), and actually SMILED while drinking it. This isn’t a kids commercial. Just stop.
The character development was flawed. I liked the inclusion of Admiral Holdo and DJ as they add emphasis to what happens when things from both sides go awry, but they aren’t given the correct spotlight. For starters, Admiral Holdo’s story is barely even touched here (although in Claudia Gray’s Leia: Princess of Alderaan novel, Holdo is quite a support in the novel, not in the movie). DJ was the most puzzling of all. Who is he really, and how’d he end up in Canto Bight? Only the novelization will tell (if it really does).
Poe Dameron is reduced to the typical X-wing pilot stereotype in the novels and movies (read: they only like to blow stuff up), and seeing him become a whiny complainer made me think why he’s like that in the first place. Can you believe, that from daring X-wing pilot, he became whiny pilot who only cares about Michael Bay-like sequences? Unbelievable.
Canto Bight, the casino planet, is a bit of travesty. It made no sense whatsoever to add, and it seemed like a City of Dreams Manila rehash but in space. They could’ve made the hacker always drinking in at least his favorite cantina or a backwater planet where he can hide but a planet for vices? C’mon. Something’s got to give.
If people don’t mind, I’d like a little bit of fixation on Rose Tico’s character. IF she were a little bit serious, I would have dubbed her as a good character in the movie. She wasn’t trying to be the next Jar Jar, but I am serious in saying this once or twice, she has made the fans enraged (but I am not one of them. Don’t worry), but I believe she deserves better. It’s just because she pops up when you least expect it, and it doesn’t help the movie experience. Wouldn’t the story course be fine if she doesn’t appear so often? Doubtless you would agree she made the very correct decision of setting the fathiers (the big deer-horse combination) of Canto Bight loose to escape the dreaded casino planet, but stopping Finn’s heroic moment of triumph doesn’t help. If she were in stride with Lieutenant Connix (cameo by Billie Lourd), or even let Finn be in the movie, I think Rose would be better. J.J. Abrams, you’d better make her character good though!
However, I express so much discontent over the villains of The Last Jedi, too. Now, Snoke and Phasma were great. Ability-wise, they’re astonishing but they never got the background or character development needed to make them pop culture icons. Given that, it would be a greater help if at least the novelization expands the story a bit much. Jason Fry, make it good for the fans!
Lastly, I hated the death of Luke Skywalker. The death scene seemed so unsuspecting and took me to tears, and somehow, it felt like a big betrayal to the character that lived from up to 70+ years in the Legends novels (yes, Luke didn’t die in the non-canon novels). Rian Johnson, you don’t need an apology to that. You just did it. “Thank you.”-Kylo Ren
Over-all, the movie was neither good nor bad. It all seems a big disappointment to half of the fan base, but you would always have a second opinion regarding this movie. I kind of liked The Last Jedi but I believe it could’ve been at least better if some changes were applied. So overall, here’s what I solely think about it overall:
“The Last Jedi is indeed a better movie than its previous The Force Awakens, but with a lot of minor setbacks and flaws flurried around the movie, it’s doubtful it will ever be the best, but it would just always try to be the best the Star Wars saga can offer its fans so far.”
RATING: 8.5/10
So, I am back, and will be posting more Star Wars things for the year 2018.
I am Rogue One (SW-0608), and thank you for taking time to read this! Like, comment or share this if you loved it, and follow my Twitter @jedi_knight0731 for more fun stuff.
Thank you, good night, and May The Force Be With You! 🙂
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